The two sets of layoffs announced this week amount to 18% of Vestas' entire Colorado manufacturing workforce, which has been reduced by a total of 29% this year, the company said in a statement.

In August, Vestas cut positions at its Brighton nacelle assembly plant and at its Pueblo, Colo., tower manufacturing facility as part of its plan to eliminate 3,700 total employees on the year. So far this year, the company has cut about 23.5% of its workforce in the U.S. and Canada.

Like so many other companies in the wind energy supply chain that have recently trimmed their headcounts, the company cited reduced orders resulting from the lack of a PTC extension as the reason for the layoffs.